Scaup Duck 
79 
afforded abundance of food in the shape of black flies, which were here more numerous and 
more vicious than in any one spot in the world. These flies are, however, sweet to the 
taste,^ and much relished by nearly all ducks, young and old. The banks, too, of the 
stream afforded excellent protection from all cold winds, and some slight protection from 
the sharp eyes of the ever-marauding Richardson Skuas, which prey on the young of 
all species. 
As soon as the young at Myvatn reach any size, the mother-Scaup leads them down 
stream to the open lake, and remains there until flocking commences in September, 
preparatory to the migration. On the Iceland lakes the Scaup obtain most of their food 
by diving. 
Parasitic insects, such as Docophorus icterodes and Trinotum luridum, are found in 
the feathers of the Scaup, whilst large numbers of worms infest the intestines, which, 
according to Von Linstow, embraces the following list : Taenia leavis, Strongylus 
nodularis, Echinorhynchus polymorphtis, Distomttm ovatuni, Distomum concavitm^ 
Distonmin globulmn, Distomum echinatum, Distomum recurvatum, Monostomum attenu- 
atum, Monostomum Jlavum, Monostomum alveatum, Holostomu7n erraticum, Notocotyle 
triserialis, Taenia megalops, Taenia tenuirostris, Taenia microsoma, Taenia cequabilis, 
Taenia fallax, Taenia pigmentata, Taenia temerrina, Distonmm oxyttrum. 
On small sheets of water, especially at the time of migration, Scaup are easily shot, 
but on large areas of fresh water, or on the sea, more difficulty is experienced in getting 
to close range, owing to the fact that they seldom rest on the water within range of banks, 
reeds, woods, or rocks. By nature they are not shy, unless constantly harassed, which 
is seldom the case, owing to their being of little commercial value. On narrow estuaries 
I have found them very easy to shoot, and have often killed as many as twenty to thirty in 
a morning on the Eden estuary, by paddling slowly down stream and down wind to them. 
If not pressed they swim away for a time, and can then generally be "jammed" between 
the boat and the land, or outlying mussel-bank. If in a large flock, they will generally rise 
at about eighty yards' distance, but as they have to come up wind and near the punt, they offer 
a nice raking shot for an 8-bore at fifty yards or so. If in small parties they will remain 
in the water until the boat is within fifty yards, when a shot may generally be obtained 
with the ordinary 12-bore. It is seldom worth while firing at these somewhat undesirable 
fowl with the punt-gun unless specimens for the collection are required, or to furnish food 
for the crofters or local fishermen, who will eat them without comment, as the loud report 
of the large gun is sure to disturb all wild-fowl of a more valuable nature within two miles. 
I only recollect firing my big gun twice in two seasons at Scaup on the Moray, and picked 
up the first time only six birds (the sea was choppy and the shot a bad one), and twenty- 
three one morning, in a calm in Inverness Bay, The whole of these birds were adult 
males and females. During a residence of three years at Fort George, I never saw an 
immature Scaup except on freshwater lakes or migration. In Orkney, and on the Dornoch 
and Little Ferry, it was much the same, whilst in the Tay estuary the old and young were 
about equal. On the Eden estuary and the Forth, by far the greater majority of Scaup 
^ So abundant, and such a pest are these black flies at Myvatn, that in speaking to another person it is impossible to 
keep them out of the mouth. Children eat them freely, picking them off their faces. Horses stampede owing to their bites, 
and if tethered are killed by the flies, who eat a hole in the throat at the angle of the jaw. 
